Question

I would like to use the .Net Regex.Split method to split this input string into an array. It must split on whitespace unless it is enclosed in a quote.

Input: Here is ‘my string’    it has ‘six  matches’

Expected output:

1. Here
2. is
3. my string
4. it
5. has
6. six  matches

What pattern do I need? Also do I need to specify any RegexOptions?

Answer 1

No options required

Regex:

\w+|'[\w\s]*' 

C#:

Regex regex = new Regex(@'\w+|''[\w\s]*'''); 

Or if you need to exclude ‘ characters:

    Regex         .Matches(input, @'(?<match>\w+)|\''(?<match>[\w\s]*)''')         .Cast<Match>()         .Select(m => m.Groups['match'].Value)         .ToList()         .ForEach(s => Console.WriteLine(s));